VGP - PM Nguyen Tan Dung on January 7, 2016 approved the Overall strategy for international integration through 2020, vision to 2030. The following is the translation of the strategy for reference.

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- Speed up training partnership with foreign education establishments having quality tested for transfer of curriculums, teaching and learning methods; create favorable for education cooperation and exchanges through signing agreements on mutual recognition of diploma, mutual credit transfer and mutual professional skills recognition between Viet Nam and other countries.

- Accelerate professional and technical cooperation, high-quality training, expert exchanges, technology transfer, specialized health research and development through signing bilateral agreements with major partners; enhance joint ventures and partnership with foreign partners in drug, vaccine, high-tech medical equipment manufacturing; develop information network with some countries and relevant international organizations in order to access, exchange, transfer and apply global medical advances.

- Regularly consolidate bilateral agreements on legal assistance signed with countries and territories; enhance international cooperation in legal assistance and protection of overseas Vietnamese.

3. Speed up multilateral cooperation in culture, labor, society, healthcare, education-training, science and technology and other fields, firstly in the building of the ASEAN Cultural-Social Community, focus on human resource development, especially high-quality workforce.

- Proactively and actively deploy the building of the ASEAN Cultural-Social Community, contribute to enhancing the effectiveness and sustainability of the Community.

- Beef up culture integration at global level, give priority to activities and projects within UNESCO; participate in some relevant United Nations organizations, especially the International Labor Organization, focusing on labor and employment areas; enhance and promote the role at multilateral institutions on social security to which Viet Nam is a member like the ASEAN Social Security Association, the Asian Workers’ Compensation Forum, and the International Social Security Association, etc.

- Enhance international integration activities in education and training within the frameworks of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organizations (SEAMEO), the Asia-Europe Meeting of Ministers of Education (ASEMME).

- Actively and effectively participate in multilateral activities on science and technology in ASEAN, the Policy Partnership on Science, Technology, and Innovation (PPSTI), ESCAP, ASEM, etc, participate in agreements on mutual recognition of measurement standards within ASEAN, APEC, ASEM and activities of international standardization organizations to which Viet Nam is a member like ISO, IEC, CODEX; cooperate with national accreditation bodies of ASEAN countries in regional and international evaluation programs in order to raise the capacity of Viet Nam’s accreditation system.

- Review and evaluate the ASEAN Action Plan on intellectual property for the period 2011-2015; build the ASEAN Action Plan on intellectual property for the period 2016-2020 and the following years.

- Proactively and actively participate in global institutions on healthcare governance, healthcare security and humanitarian assistance; develop and deploy a strategy to assist Vietnamese to work at regional and international health organizations; make contributions to the formation of global strategies and policies at international forums and organizations to which Viet Nam is a member.

- Develop and deploy a plan to join international multi-lateral institutions and treaties on justice, and international dispute settlement institutions.

4. Take full advantage of international cooperation and assistance, absorb knowledge, especially management, science and technology knowledge.

- Exploit foreign financial, technical and human resources to support the estabishment and deployment of policies, national programs and projects in the culture, social, healthcare, education and training, science and technology fields, etc.

- Exploit foreign science and technology resources to speed up technology innovation, especially high-technologies in order to raise the competitiveness of some national products; form mechanisms to encourage international organizations, foreign individuals and Vietnamese nationals abroad to participate in technology training, research, application and transfer at domestic education and training establishments; dispatch Vietnamese lecturers to teach and carry out research abroad; encourage foreign organizations and individuals, international organizations and Vietnamese residing abroad to invest in or sponsor science and technology research, application and transfer and development of education and vocational training establishments in Viet Nam; build excellent science research centers on the basis of long-term cooperation between Vietnamese and foreign science research organizations.

5. Enhance the popularization of the country’s image and people to the wider world. Proactively and actively introduce, participate in improving the quality and achievements in cultural, art and sport activities in the region and the world.

- Develop and deploy a plan to popularize the country’s image and people through 2030, focus on constructing some cultural centers in some major places in the world, enhancing Viet Nam’s engagement in major international cultural and art events.

- Organize the implementation of foreign information services to introduce Viet Nam’s orientations to mobilize countries, organizations and individuals to support and facilitate Viet Nam’s efforts in achieving national development targets and protection of independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.

- Deploy programs and plans to improve the quality and achievements in cultural, art and sport activities, giving priority to fields and games of comparative advantages; speed up international integration in these fields.

6. Implement commitments and make contributions to the amendment, perfection and development of new standards and initiatives of international organizations to which Viet Nam is member, firstly at United Nations organizations.

- Develop a plan for effective implementation of the United Nations Agenda 2030 on sustainable development.

- Fully codify commitments to the ILO-led conventions that have been ratified by Viet Nam; develop and deploy a plan to participate in some more ILO-led conventions in accordance with the country’s integration process; actively participate in the formation and amendment of international labor standards; effectively deploy international conventions on rights of specific groups like the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and the Convention on rights of persons with disabilities; mull over the ratification of the Convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and member of their families.

- Effectively handle social issues which arise during the process of realizing international commitments; develop and operate effectively the social security system; reform labor policies to faciliate the movement of labors among different economic sectors, localities, and businesses according to market rules, develop labor market; improve laws and policies on labor relations; speed up poverty reduction and prevent people from falling back into poverty; mull over mechanisms and policies to help the poor to gradually participate in and benefit from the integration process.

- Deploy international commitments to intellectual property enshrined in the newly-signed free trade agreements; mull over the participation in some international conventions on intellectual property such as the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs; join the Protocol amending the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.

- Continue effective deployment of healthcare commitments under multi-lateral agreements of such mechanisms like ASEAN, ASEAN Plus 3, WHO, the International Health Partnership (IHP); the United Nations and some of the relevant organizations.

7. Proactively participate in environmental cooperation mechanisms, make contributions to the common efforts in sustainable management and use of resources and environment; prevention of natural disasters and climate change adaptation, environmental-forest-water resource, fauna, flora protection in our country and in the world.

- Continue expansion of bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation in: Climate change adaptation and implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; cooperate in preventing and controlling environmental pollution and trans-national pollution, preserve the nature and biodiversity; sustainably exploit, use and develop transnational water sources.

- Speed up international integration activities regarding natural resources and environment within the International Mekong Commission and the expanded Mekong Sub-region cooperation program on water resource management, exploitation and protection.

- Organize effective implementation of the international treaties to which Viet Nam is a signatory; international cooperation agreements, memorandums of understanding signed between Viet Nam and partners regarding natural resources and environment; cooperate in establishment of new international agreements on natural resources and environment cooperation.

- Enhance cooperation with international organizations like the United Nations Development Program, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the Global Environment Fund, the Global Climate Fund, governmental and non-governmental organizations to take full advantage of sponsored resources for the implementation of projects on natural resources and environment, climate change adaptation, protection of natural resources and environment, water resources, and other types of resources.

- Enhance the participation in policy dialogue forums, especially focusing on the sustainable exploitation and use of water resources, forest resources, environmental protection and climate change adaption; proactively and creatively put forward initiatives for international integration in natural resources and environment area.

- Attach importance to environmental issues during negotiation processes of bilateral and multi-lateral free trade agreements; accelerate the implementation of environmental commitments, especially within the World Trade Organization and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

- Review and supplement legal system, mechanisms and policies in line with international laws, agreements and treaties on climate change to which Viet Nam is a signatory; mull over the development of a Law on Climate Change based on the real conditions of the country and international law; enhance outbound information on climate change.

- Incorporate the tasks of climate change adaptation and environment protection into strategies, planning schemes and socio-economic development plans; regard greenhouse gas emission as criteria of socio-economic development strategies and activities, work towards low-carbon economy resilient to climate change.

- Speed up information and communication work on international integration in order to raise the awareness of people and businesses for the Party’s major guidelines and policies on socio-economic development and international integration.

- Develop a master plan on information and communication; speed up coordination among agencies in charge of international integration as well as localities in order to exchange information; enhance and diversify ways of information supply.

- Information must reflect the situation of international integration in a practical, updated, rich, timely manner, in accordance with demand of each subject; information and communication must closely follow the guidelines of the Party and State as well as the strategies and action plans relevant to sectoral integration; focus on economic integration like Viet Nam’s commitments, responsibilities, obligations, rights and interests under free trade areas; provide information on international law related to international integration.

- Organize foreign information services in a more professional, practical, timely, and flexible manner with rich contents, towards more subjects and locations in order to effectively popularize the country’s image, culture, history and people; prevent acts of misusing public information to undermine production and cause damages to businesses, to the economy and to socio-political stability.

2. Stage 2: Evaluate the outcomes of the first stage by the end of 2020 and propose adjustments to the objectives, viewpoints, solutions and orientations for international integration for the 2021-2025, and 2026-2030.

II. IMPLEMENTAITON ASSIGNMENT

1. National Steering Committee for international integration

- Assist the Government, the Prime Minister in directing, supervising and speeding up ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Government bodies, People’s Committee of provinces and centrally-governed cities to comprehensively deploy orientations figured out in the Strategy and handle key and inter-sector issues emerging during the implementation of the Strategy.

- Assist the Government, the Prime Minister in mapping out major orientations, plans and solutions; propose central tasks of international integration for each stage.

- Summarize and submit periodical reports on the implementation of the Strategy to the Politburo, the CPV Central Committee's Secretariat, the Government and the Prime Minister.

2. Inter-agency Steering Committee for international integration

- Assist leaders of relevant ministries and agencies in directing, supervising and speeding up the realization of the Strategy; support localities to establish planning schemes and projects on international integration; supervise and assess the implementation of objectives and tasks of the Strategy and handle key issues emerging during the implementation of the Strategy.

- Assist leaders of ministries and agencies in comprehensive deployment of the orientations of the Strategy; work out major orientations and solutions and put forwards central tasks on international integration for each stage.

- Summarize and submit periodical reports on the implementation of the Strategy to the Government, the Prime Minister, and the National Steering Committee.

3. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and Government bodies

- The Government Office: Incorporate the implementation and evaluation of the Strategy into the working program of the Government.

- Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and Government bodies, based on their assigned functions and tasks, translate the Strategy into sectoral plans and projects; submit annual reports to the Inter-agency Steering Committee to synthesize and report to the National Steering Committee.

4. People’s Committee of provinces and centrally-governed cities

Fully grasp the spirit of the Strategy and disseminate it to local units and businesses; develop planning schemes and projects and action programs to deploy international integration in their management areas; integrate the objectives, viewpoints and orientations of the Strategy into the planning schemes, programs and projects on international integration of their own localities; incorporate the Strategy into local-level socio-economic development plans; submit periodic reports on the implementation of the Strategy to the Government, the Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee.